Friends of the Pine Creek Grist Mill

Melpine Country School
If you are one of the lucky ones who has attended or taught
at a one room rural school or are just interested in schools, visit Melpine Country School. It is just a few feet from Pine Creek Mill. Iowa state law required that a country school be built within two miles of each student, thus each county was dotted with these small one room schools. All the grades were taught together by a single teacher in one room.

Melpine School was moved from its original location and completely restored to its 1920’s appearance by the Friends of Melpine School. Inside you will find the desks, books and teaching aids just as they were in the past. Lots of pictures of rural Muscatine County students and teachers and books containing school records, teacher contracts and souvenir booklets and much more. One can also ring the big school bell.

Park staff opens Melpine School occasionally during the summer. Check the mill’s Facebook page and Web site for dates and times. To make it more special, pack a picnic lunch and bring the grandchildren. Present them with your special history lesson of the good old days when life was slower.

Old Stone Church
Old Stone Church is a fully restored historic church built by the
County’s early settler s. In 1867 a group of pioneers of German heritage needed a place of worship for their Methodist Episcopal congregation. They hand quarried the stone near Pine Creek and built the church themselves.

Today the Church is fully restored and is available for weddings, meetings and family events. The church is non-denominational and is owned by the Friends of the Old Stone Church a 501(c)(3) non-profit.

For more information contact:
Mr. John Scott, President
Phone: 563-299-8205
Email: jscott@machlink.com
Web Page: www.oldstonechurch.us

Log cabin
A short walk from the mill is another bit of local history. A few years ago a neighbor tore down an out building and found a log cabin hidden under the siding. He protected it and donated it to Friends of the Mill. Another Wildcat Den neighbor donated land for the cabin. Tree ring analysis found that the cabin was built in the middle 1850s. Volunteers have completed rebuilding the cabin.
The cabin contains many items that give visitors an idea of what the inside of a cabin might have looked like in the 1850’s. It is now a unique part of our interpretation program.

Pine Creek Bridge
The 1878 bridge is one of the most visited spots in the park.
It’s the place to come if you enjoy a beautiful view, the sound
of rippling water, or just the quiet of nature. The bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places.

It’s more than a rusty old bridge on a quiet stream. Prior to the construction of the bridge residents had to ford Pine Creek
near the mill or travel far to the north to cross the creek. The lack of a bridge not only hindered travel for the residents, it also badly hindered access to the mill.

The residents and mill owner Hermann Huchendorf petitioned the Muscatine County Supervisors requesting that a bridge be built over Pine Creek at the mill. A bridge could be ordered right out of the supplier’s catalog. The bridge would be delivered by rail and simply bolted together at the site.

Nye Cemetery

Muscatine County’s first pioneer family is buried in a pioneer cemetery a short walk from the mill. Benjamin Nye, the man who built
and operated the mill, met with a tragic demise. He was

killed in a dispute with his son in law. His grave is one of several
in the cemetery. The earliest date found on the headstones
is 1838.

Nye Memorial
A one mile drive up New Era Road is the site of

mill builder Benjamin Nye’s killing by his

son-in-law.